Any time is good, just not now
by MarcoLover16
Summary: Marco had never missed Dylan so much. He needed him, and he didn't know if he could handle the new stress put upon him. I DECIDED TO CONTINUE IT. YAY FOR TOO MANY STORIES AT ONCE! lol.
1. Pregnant

Author's Note: I am working on the next chapter of Breaking the Attachment. It was held up due to last minute projects and a murder on my block. Yes, it was the scariest thing that ever happened in my life. Everything is okay now, but I suddenly got the idea for another story. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but…it won't be. Enjoy.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Driiiii—

Marco stared, transfixed, as one drop from the water faucet took a while to fall, finally splashing, completely the 'ip.'

He sighed. Drip. Drip.

"Marco," called Ellie from behind the door, knocking gently. "Is the door locked?" she asked.

Marco didn't answer, so Ellie tried on her own, finding it open. She looked down at his pathetic blob of a self leaning against the sink. She slid down next to her friend, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Be alive," she said encouragingly.

Marco looked up at her in disbelief. "He finally answered my call, but he said he had to call me back at four," said Marco, holding up his cell phone with the time clearly shown on it.

"It's five-thirty," she said knowingly, shaking her head.

"Now, I can't do _anything _until he calls because then, I'll get distracted by something else and miss his call," he said.

Though Ellie doubted anything could make Marco miss a call from Dylan, she sympathized, not saying a word against it. "He'll call," she promised, hoping to God that he would.

Ellie and Marco sat in the bathroom for another twenty minutes in silence before Marco spoke up. "When, exactly, did you say he would call?"

Ellie was becoming extremely angry herself with Dylan's lack of communication. She hated to see her friend so down, and she didn't know what to say anymore. "I didn't. I just said he would," she said simply, standing up.

"Ah, man, doesn't your back hurt?" she asked, gesturing to his position, his head on the sink and his legs against the wall by the toilet. Marco didn't answer. "Your back? Legs…okay," she paused, "you want me to pick up something for dinner because you don't look like you want to cook?"

He shrugged, opening his phone to check if maybe, just maybe, it forgot to ring. Ellie smiled sadly while he checked and rechecked, closing it soundly afterwards, looking much more upset than before he'd opened it. Apparently, the phone hadn't forgotten.

Ellie left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen, and picked up the phone to order pizza for them.

"Ellie," said Paige, getting up from the living room couch, "did Alex get back?" she asked.

Ellie pointed to the phone on her ear, and Paige waited impatiently for Ellie to finish ordering. She would have probably interrupted if she didn't realize that she was getting food for them to eat.

"Paige," Ellie started after hanging up, "if Alex came in, you'd have been the first to see her. You are sitting by the door."

"Oh, yes," she laughed. "Silly me."

She walked back to the couch, tapping her foot nervously. Ellie rolled her eyes. Had she and Alex had some sort of a fight or something?

When she went into the bathroom to check on Marco, she saw that he was no longer in there. She raised her eyebrow, walking into his bedroom instead.

"Hey," she said, trying not to laugh since he was not in a good mood. The sight was quite amusing, though. Marco, being slightly obsessive compulsive, had a tendency to straighten the bed sheets. When he was nervous, like he was, he usually decided to straighten everything else as well.

"Hi," he said, flattening the curtains on the window.

"I'm guessing he hasn't called," she said slowly, wondering why she even said it. Obviously, he hadn't.

"You're very insightful," he said, irritated.

He finally let the curtains alone, falling back onto his bed feebly. "Ellie, I miss him so much."

"I noticed. See? Insightful, remember?" she teased, sitting down next to him. "Don't make yourself sick over it, though. Don't think I didn't notice your little vomiting escapade in the bathroom this morning. Actually, that's been your home for the past couple of days."

"Dylan's not making me sick," said Marco, rolling his eyes. "It's just…he's so far away, and…well, remember what happened to Craig and Ash? She _met _someone, and she told you by email, and we all hid it from him until it was let out on his birthday. I mean, what if that happens to me?"

"It won't, Marco," said Ellie confidently. "Your birthday just passed. I'm kidding!" she said, getting an evil glare from her depressed friend. "I'm serious, though. It won't happen. Dylan loves you."

"He'll leave me for a guy with an _accent. _Do you know what accents can do to people, Ellie? Do you _know?"_

"No, I really don't," said Ellie, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "What can they do, Marco?"

Unfortunately, Marco was so distressed that he didn't realize she understood. He explained dutifully. "They can do many things, El. They can make Dylan fall…like for that Juliet guy or whatever his name—"

"Juliet?" Ellie asked, ashamedly amused by his anger.

"It might as well have been his name! Anyhow, there are going to be plenty of guys like him falling all over my star of a boyfriend," he said quickly. "How am I going to compete?"

"You're not," said Ellie, "because Dylan won't make you. He doesn't care about any guy but you. You have to realize that!"

"Sure, but I…" he hesitated, turning back to his cell phone, still faithfully gripped in his hand.

"You…?" she prompted, seeing that he wasn't going to continue with his sentence.

"Nothing. Forget it," he said with a tone of conclusiveness.

Ellie didn't have time (or any interest) to question him further because of the knock on the bedroom door.

"Yeah?" asked Marco.

"Alex and pizza are here," said Paige, walking away immediately. She knew Marco was moody.

"Wanna go eat?" she asked, taking his hand. He nodded, turning the volume on his phone up just in case his chewing would be so loud that he wouldn't be able to hear if Dylan called.

"Ellie!" Marco yelled, attempting the pry the door open with his hands. "Please, you have never been the type to take," he paused, trying to magically unlock it, "hour long showers. Let me throw up a couple of times," he felt himself getting dizzy, "and I'll be out of your way."

"Wow," said Paige, showing up behind him with a smile on her face. "You control when you throw up?" she asked. "Impressive."

"Not exactly. I just…I know the exact amount of time I have to wait because when I feel like I'm going to throw up, it's usually a false alarm until—Ellie, please!"

"I'm out," she said, flinging the door open, a towel wrapped around her body. She walked past both of them, and before Paige could utter a word, Marco slammed the door.

Paige sat back against the bathroom door, debating about whether or not she should leave him be or talk to him. She covered her ears to block out the sound, feeling utterly disgusted by it all.

"Hon," she finally said, knocking lightly. "Marco, honey, can I come in?" she asked.

There was no answer for a few minutes, so she decided to take it as a 'no'. Finally, (she assumed he had to wait until he was done with business) he told her that she could enter if she so desired.

She walked into the bathroom, trying not to breathe through her nose without making it incredibly obvious.

Marco sat with his face in his hands, talking to himself in gibberish. Paige smiled despite the sad situation.

"Dooon't be sad," she cooed, running her hand up and down his back. "So, flu?"

"I don't know what it is, but what do you think," asked Marco, "would make Dylan inclined to come home?"

Paige looked at him, confused.

"Oh, I mean, there's bronchitis, pneumonia, flu…or that bird flu!" he counted off the sicknesses on his fingers with a serious look.

"Marco, are you forcing yourself to be _sick _because of his leaving? Is this a conscious effort of yours?" she asked, not believing he'd ever do something so deceitful.

"First of all, that's not really possible. Second of all, I was already sick, but it would be nice," he said, lifting his exhausted self from the floor, trying not to swallow the intoxicating taste of vomit, "if I got so sick that he had to come back to help."

"Marco…"

"No, I'd never do it, though, Paige," he rolled his eyes. "I probably have the stomach virus or something. It'll pass."

Paige let out a long breath. "I'm going to go help Alex get ready for school…but don't go far," she said. "I'll be back."

"Does she really need help?" he called out of the bathroom after she walked out.

Paige's laughter rang through the hallway, but she didn't reply.

In the early evening, Ellie brought some 'sick supplies' as she called them, home for Marco after school. He'd gone to his classes, of course. He couldn't afford to miss any important material, and he insisted to Ellie that he was fine, (which he really was by the end of the day) but she refused to take a hint. She also worried insanely because he decided to take a detour after his last class of the day to the drug store. She insisted he was deathly ill, which was actually quite unlike her.

After indulging some chicken soup, practically being spoon-fed, he went off to the bathroom again, leaning against the sink, and staring blankly into the gray store bag. He couldn't believe he was actually going to _do _this.

"Marco!" said Ellie, knocking on the door again. "Okay, I'm seriously worried about you, and you've been in there for almost twenty minutes—" Had it been that long? He'd only been waiting for the damn test to read positive or negative.

"Oh," he said, hearing his phone ring.

"He called!" yelled Ellie, knowing it was boy wonder. "I think you'll be okay now," she laughed, walking back to her room.

"Hey, Marco," said Dylan somewhat cheerfully, but sounding a bit apologetic as well. "I'm so sorry I didn't call you back last night. It's just I—"

"It's okay," said Marco, even though it wasn't.

"You sure?" he asked.

"No," said Marco. He didn't feel sure of much anything at that moment in time. "I miss you, Dyl."

"I miss you too, Marco," said Dylan lovingly. Marco smiled. It didn't matter how long he'd waited for the call because his voice made everything better. What could he say? He was in an emotional mood.

"Ho—how much time do you have to talk?" asked Marco, taking the dreaded item, that was about to change his life, into his hands.

"Only a few minutes. I'm sorry," he said, and Marco could tell he sounded sincere. "But, I'm going to come out to see you in a couple weeks."

"Mmm…" Somehow, that didn't make Marco feel much better about the distance. "And then I'll have, what, a day with you? Then, you'll go back 'home'?"

"Marco," Dylan started, "don't say that. Please. When you let a person do something they want to do, it makes that person just feel horrible and guilty when you throw stuff upon them like that."

"So, you wanted to get away from me?" he asked. Oh, honestly! Marco wanted to hit himself. Damn the damned hormones! He still refused to look at the pregnancy test in his hands. He just wanted to wait until he could think things through.

"You know that's not true. Is this what it'll be like for us now, every time we talk?" he asked. "Marco…"

"Dylan, I'm pregnant."

**Author's Note: Okay, yeah…I probably should have warned you in the summary, but I didn't. Silly me. Anyway, please review :) Oh, and I also want to make it clear that, in case you weren't sure, this is fiction, so I really don't want to be told that men don't get pregnant. Okay? Imaaaagine. Lol.**


	2. Ellie

Author's Note: Chapter two. **Okay, first of all, you have to know, I am well-aware that this chapter is not the most interesting of them all. However, it needs to be there, and the rest of the chapters will be muuuuch better. Stay with me :) **

"What?" Dylan laughed a little, waiting for Marco to shout that he was just kidding.

"I think you heard me," said Marco.

"You can't be," said Dylan nervously, realizing that Marco was being completely serious.

Marco sighed, not in the mood to beat around the bush. "Well, I am."

Dylan's breathing became heavy. "But I…you…Marco!"

"I don't know," said Marco, getting upset with the way Dylan was reacting. He wasn't expecting pure bliss, but he'd hoped they'd find a little excitement together in the situation. "It isn't my fault!" he exclaimed suddenly.

"Marco, I wasn't blaming you," said Dylan, finding his calm voice again. He was trying to understand just how much pain Marco must have been in; he wasn't making it better.

"Tell me it'll be okay, please," Marco suggested.

Dylan smiled. "It'll be okay, honey," he said, though Marco knew he had no idea if it would be. "So, what are you going to tell your parents?" he asked.

Marco froze, almost letting the phone fall out of his hand. "You completely forgot about that part, didn't you?"

"Dyl, I need you," Marco replied, getting up from his position leaning on the toilet. "I'm sick and moody all the time. I just want everyone to get out of my face, and it's hard to deal with it without you here with me."

Dylan didn't know what to say he. He couldn't just give up everything he'd worked so hard for. Then again, he's always dreamed of being a father, but didn't really think it would ever happen. On the other hand….there was a chance he'd be home before the baby was born. Then again, his boyfriend _needed _him. How could he deny that?

"Marco," he said slowly, drawing out both syllables.

"I know. I know," said Marco. Everything had become so much more complicated than they were meant to. He never imagined when he was in grade ten that the boy he was dating would eventually impregnate him. Oooh, boy. "I don't expect you to change your plans for me," he said honestly. "Can you do your pathetic pregnant lover a favor, though?"

"Sure," said Dylan, willing to do anything he could at that point.

"Call me more!" he demanded. "Call me when you say you will."

"I will, I promise. And you have to call me if anything goes wrong. Oh," he paused. Marco could hear another voice in the distance. "Marco, I have to go. I love you."

"Love you too," said Marco. "Dyl, I…"

"Hmm?"

Marco shrugged. "Never mind. Bye."

"Bye," said Dylan uneasily.

Marco hung up the phone, deciding it would be a good idea to emerge from the bathroom. He got rid of the evidence that he'd taken any sort of test, and walked out into the living room, throwing himself unceremoniously onto his couch. "Oh, hey, Jimmy, Spinner," he said, sitting up when he noticed he had guests. "When did you get here?"

"We were having a party," said Ellie, "while you were hiding in the bathroom."

"What were you doing…in the bathroom?" asked Spinner, smirking.

"He was on the phone. Leave him alone," said Paige, smacking his arm.

Marco had been debating whether or not to tell Ellie and Paige that night or not, but it got even harder when he saw how many people were joining them. He and his boyfriend got a place together, and suddenly everyone in the world but his boyfriend lived there as well.

Marco tried to block out the conversations around him while he thought it out. How was he supposed to tell them that he was pregnant?

"Marco," said Paige, bringing him back to the real world.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to her.

"You talked to Dylan, right?" she asked. Oh, no, what if Paige spoke to Dylan! He'd have to tell her before that happened.

"Mhmm," he said. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I was just curious. Oh, and I wanted to get you involved in our discussion," she admitted.

Another discussion or argument started, but Marco couldn't really be sure what was said. He felt a sudden urge to throw himself out a window. He played with the cross around his neck, wondering why such an interesting life had been given to him.

"I'm going to bed," said Marco, saying good-night to them all.

"It's only seven!" Paige said in disbelief.

Marco ignored her, locking his bedroom door, and walking over to his laptop. If he was going to have a baby, he was going to need to get more information about what, exactly, was going to happen to him. He'd also probably need to see a doctor, but that could wait, couldn't it?

He typed in 'pregnancy' on conveniently leaving out the word 'male', which gave him plenty of good-looking websites. He clicked the first one on the long list. An image of a pregnant woman appeared on the screen, her large stomach showing.

Marco's eyes widened. "I can't do this," he said to himself. He took a deep breath, and scrolled down to another picture, showing a picture of a baby.

Marco smiled at the beautiful infant. "Maybe I can."

Marco was often amazed that his parents were still alive after going through so much shock in only a few years. He was always sure that his father was one step away from a fatal heart attack. The pregnancy would surely push him over the edge.

"Thank you for this miracle," said Marco, looking from the baby on the screen to God above, feeling himself shake. "Thank you for making this possible, but…now? Did you have to perform this absolute blessing at such an inopportune moment? Could it have waited, if not until after marriage, at least, until Dylan came home?" Marco decided to stop. What was done was done, and technically, it was his and Dylan's fault anyway.

"Common Symptoms: Fatigue, backaches, headaches, frequent urination…" Marco read aloud, skipping over a few that didn't pertain to him, considering he was a male." He reconsidered again whether or not he could do it, seeing a woman in labor. "Dyyyylann!" he cried uselessly.

"Marco," said Ellie, knocking gently on his door.

It was just one thing after another. "What do you want?" he asked, annoyed.

"Open," she commanded.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he murmured. However, he opened the door for his concerned friend.

"I don't like when you're weird," she said bluntly.

"I'm not," he replied.

Ellie rolled her eyes, looking away from her stubborn friend, her eyes suddenly catching onto an interesting sight.

She raised her eyebrow. "Uh, Marco," she started, walking over to the computer. Marco shook his head, knowing what she saw. He couldn't believe what was happening to him. "Marco, something you want to tell me?" she joked.

"Actually, El," he said, cautiously.

She looked at him expectantly. "Yes?"

"I'm pregnant," he said seriously.

Ellie burst out laughing, having to grab hold of Marco's arm for support. He didn't find the situation quite as funny.

"That's good," she said, "because you have sort of been acting like a pregnant woman." She calmed down. "Seriously, who is?"

Ellie didn't believe him. She thought he was kidding around. He should have expected as much.

"Ellie, I am not joking."

Ellie's smile faded slightly, but she still looked slightly hopeful. "Marco, tell me you're kidding," she pleaded.

Marco shook his head, taking a seat on his bed. His head was pounding, and he just wanted to sleep. "I would have given it up by now. I suck at jokes."

"So, what you're telling me is you have a—a baby in you," said Ellie.

Marco nodded. "I don't believe it either. Is everyone still here?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're all worried," said Ellie, kneeling down in front of him, for he'd finally taken up his own offer. Lying down.

"I have a headache," he managed to groan out. Ellie sympathized with him, but she knew that if she stayed in there with him for too long, her friends would become curious.

"Does Dylan know?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Marco. "Just him. El, this is the one thing I thought I'd never have to worry about, being gay and all. Now, I'm not so prepared for this."

"We'll get through it," she said comfortingly, kissing his forehead as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Good-night, Marco. We'll talk more in the morning."

"Night," he said softly, cuddling into his pillows. Marco drew small circles with his index finger around his stomach, praying for some clue as to what to do.

Ellie closed his door, walking back into the living room. She saw that Jimmy and Spinner were getting ready to leave. Spinner, in fact, was already half way out the door, having expected Ellie wasn't going to come back out to say good-bye.

"Marco okay?" he asked.

"You're worried?" she said impressed. "Yeah, he'll be all right."

Jimmy gave Ellie a friendly hug before heading out with Spinner. "Oh, and tell Marco I said to feel better."

"I will," she said, smiling.

After Spinner and Jimmy had left, Alex, Paige, and Ellie were left standing in a quiet, awkward, room.

"Why were you in there for so long?" asked Alex. "Getting it on?"

Ellie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, yeah, me and Marco are doing it all the time."

"Well," Paige began.

"Don't even go there, Paige," said Ellie. "I'm so not in the mood."

"Seriously, what's up?" she asked, patting the spots on both sides of her for the two girls to sit on the couch. Alex wrapped her arm around Paige's shoulder. "El?"

"Right," said Ellie. "He—okay, he…" she leaned in closer, "I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this or not, but I figure it's better you find out from me than Dylan."

"Oh my gosh!" said Paige, covering her mouth. "They didn't break up!"

"Oh, no," said Ellie. "No, no no," she assured her. "Marco is, well, you're not going to believe this, pregnant."

Paige's eyes widened, while Alex had a reaction similar to Ellie's. "Don't laugh," said Paige, nudging her painfully. "Is he okay?"

Ellie threw her hands in the air. "I can't believe you just accept this without thinking it's a joke."

"I've heard some strange things in my lifetime," said Paige, brushing it off. "Now, is he okay?" she asked again.

Ellie nodded. "He's just got a headache. He wants to be left alone for a while because he's feeling quite emotional. In the morning, I'll let him know you two know."

"Poor Marco," said Alex, surprising both girls. "I can be sensitive on occasion."

Paige giggled. "I know, hon."

"Now, like I said, he's okay, but he's still very emotional, and the fact that Dylan's gone is even harder for him now," said Ellie somberly. "We have to be very supportive, very helpful."

"Of course," said Paige.

Author's Note: I hope you liked it. Like I said, this chapter had to be here, but the coming chapters will have much more excitement. I really wanted to wait a bit before I started the sequel of Get Out because I start final exams and regents' next week, (ah!) but I might end up starting it early lol. You know me; I can't stop. Review please!


	3. As of June 29th'07, IGNORE THIS CHAPTER!

Author's Note: Okay, guess who had an idea! Me! Bet you never could have guessed who, of course, so I thought I'd just tell you. Anyway, you know that every time I write one of these, it's like, "I'm canceling or pausing this story," which I definitely try not to do too much. So, I had an idea for my sequel of Get Out, which is going to be started today, earlier than expected, but the idea that goes along in the sequel has a certain similarity to this one, and I'm sure you can guess what, so I've decided that, since this story has actually taken a _completely _different route that I'm going to, instead of continue this, add my ideas _from _this story _to _my sequel to Get Out. Trust me, it'll make the story oh-so much better. :) I know what I'm doing lol, I think.


	4. Make it up to you

Author's Note: So, it will be continued. Aren't you happy :) Yeah, there are quite a few curses in this chapter. They were needed for the 'mood', so try to bear it.

Damn Switzerland. Damn Swiss cheese. Who the hell really _needs _holes in their cheese? Cheese doesn't need air holes because it does not breathe. Damn Swiss people. Honestly, why would they poke holes in their cheese? There is absolutely no point.

Damn Canadians who think they've become Swiss, and they eventually stop calling their pregnant boyfriends who still live back home.

Marco lay pathetically on his side, staring at the picture of the two of them on his bedside table. He picked it up, slowing tracing it with his index finger. It had been taken the day before he left, and it was obvious to all that both of their smiles were forced.

He put it back down in its rightful place. It had been over a month since Marco had 'come out' to Dylan about the pregnancy. Dylan had promised to call, and he had…once.

Marco decided, though his body refused, it was time to get up from his little six in the evening rest. He ripped the irritating blankets off his body. Honestly, he'd been too warm to wear them anyway, so he didn't know why he was. He walked out into the kitchen, feeling surprisingly fine, as physical things go.

He instinctively pulled out his cell phone, checking if he'd missed a call, though he knew even before checking that he absolutely hadn't. It was just a waste of his time to check.

Marco sat down in the living room, hoping to get a second alone, but also knowing that was impossible with Ellie and Paige living there. Jesse came over all of the time to spend time with Ellie, also, Alex had basically moved in _with _Paige, and most days, Marco wanted to throw himself out the window from all the romance he had to witness without being able to be a part of it with his own lover.

He let his head drop between his knees, pushing it even lower with his hands. "Hon, if you're trying to push your head off," said Paige cautiously, walking into the room, "it's not going to work that easily."

Marco groaned. She'd ruined the calm memory of Dylan behind his closed eyes. "Go away," he said tiredly, though he got up, following her into the kitchen despite his own request for her to leave him alone.

"Sit," she suggested, pulling on his hand until he sat with her at the table. She looked at him expectantly, looking rather confused. "So, what are you planning to do with baby Del Rossi?"

"Stop calling it that," he said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm keeping it," he said strongly.

Marco could tell Paige was trying very hard not to shout out her negative opinions on the matter. She clapped her hands together, counting to ten on her lips before speaking.

"Marco," she said, grasping his hand, "do you understand how much your life will change once you have a _baby _to take care of?"

Marco shook his head, staring past her at the wall. He'd heard it all before. "Paige, I'm a guy."

"I know," she said, wondering what he meant.

"Do you know how often men get pregnant?"

"Umm—"

"This will be the last time this opportunity arises for me," said Marco, "and I am not letting it go. Don't you understand that?"

She smiled. "Yes," she whispered, "I do."

"I want a baby more than anything, and a miracle like this happens once in a lifetime…oh, but why _now?" _he asked, looking up. "At least let him call."

It was as if God answered his rather demanding call, for not a second later, his cell phone rang. "Dylan," he answered immediately.

"Okay, before you scream at me, listen," said Dylan quickly. Marco got up from the table, leaving Paige alone in the room, and ran back to his own.

"I'm listening," he said, locking his door behind him.

"I've wanted to call. I really really have," he said desperately, "but I knew that we had a big conversation to have, and every moment I've had was just that. A moment. I wanted to wait until I had more time to talk to you."

Marco really wanted to vent, to yell, to shoot his boyfriend for being so heartless, but he blamed his moodiness for his anger, and he tried to ignore it. "It's…fine, I guess."

"You're mad," he said.

"Good observation," said Marco, concentrating on evening his fingernail without a nail file. "Let's talk."

"I've had time to accept that I'm going to be the father of a ba—I _am _the father, yes?" he asked to make sure.

Marco smiled, feeling a bit less angry. "Of course," he replied.

"Well, I've had time to accept it. Now, what's going to happen?" he asked.

"I want to keep it," said Marco, biting his lip. "Will you be with me to do that?"

"I'm going to be brought into fatherhood kicking and screaming, but babe, I'm willing to do anything that makes you happy right now," he said, looking down at the bed he was laying in. "After all, I've been a terrible boyfriend lately."

"Yes, you have," Marco agreed, making sure Dylan had that straight. "And…you're so much nicer to me when I'm sick than Paige. You spoil me half to death. Paige says 'oh, hon' a bunch of times, then promptly leaves the room."

"Poor thing," said Dylan, and Marco could hear the pout in his voice. "I'm assuming you've been to a doctor?"

"Not exactly…" said Marco, somewhat ashamed, preparing to be scolded.

"Get to one. How the hell do you even know that you're pregnant?" he asked. "You haven't even been to a doctor…" he muttered to himself, amazed that Marco could be so utterly stubborn.

"I _feel _it," he said. "Dylan, I can't explain it, but I know that it can't be anything else. Besides, I took a test."

Dylan didn't answer. After a moment of nothing, Marco wasn't even sure Dylan was there anymore. "He—hello," he said anxiously.

"Hold on a second, Marco," he said tersely.

Marco waited, as he was told to, and got up to walk around his room while he waited for Dylan to return to the phone. He heard quite a bit of muffled voices, and he raised his eyebrow in confusion. What was he doing?

Marco sat down at his desk, _not _planning on looking at any more of those pregnancy sites that scared him quite a bit, but opened up a word document of his half written paper that scared him quite a bit more. He had to finish by tomorrow. While holding the phone on his ear with his shoulder, he just put his finger to the keyboard when Dylan came back.

"Sorry about that," said Dylan.

"No problem," said Marco. "What was—"

"I have to go," he interrupted, "but I promise we'll talk tomorrow. I _swear _this time that, if I don't, you are completely allowed to kill me."

"You have to go now?" asked Marco, disappointed. "We barely talked."

"I know, babe. Trust me, I'll make it up to you tomorrow," he said sincerely.

Marco tried to keep himself from snorting doubtfully. "How can you do that?" he asked, his mood quickly falling with each passing second.

"You've got to trust me. Eight-thirty tomorrow morning, count on my voice," Dylan said sweetly.

"Why so early?" asked Marco, confused. "You're never up that early."

"Trust me, I'll be up even earlier than that. I've got to get ready now."

Marco, though completely confused, didn't know what else to say. "Fine. Fine," he said. "Love you, I guess."

"You guess? Jeez, way to make a boy feel bad," said Dylan, shaking his head. "Love you too."

Marco closed his phone, making his way back downstairs, feeling tears in his eyes. He was going to kill himself with the emotions this damn baby was putting in his damn body.

"Marco," Paige called, getting ready to go up the stairs, but Marco was already halfway down. "Okay, so, I've discovered I can actually cook."

Marco tried to smile, wiping the damn tears from his eyes. He had never said…or thought the word 'damn' so many times in his life.

"Good," said Marco. "Sorry I haven't been in the mood to lately…it'll come back to me."

She shrugged, pulling him into the dining room where Ellie and Alex were already sitting.

"So," said Ellie, "Paige decided to make us breakfast for dinner."

Marco rolled his eyes, sitting down at the table next to his friend. "Eleanor, be grateful." Paige looked pleased with his answer.

"What, exactly, is breakfast also known as dinner?" Marco asked, his question answered for him when an omelet was placed in front of him. "There's no Swiss cheese in here, right?" he asked, looking up hopefully.

"No, why?"

"I hate the stupid air holes," he said, shrugging, as though it was perfectly normal to not want to eat food that he'd eaten for years just because it had holes in it. Paige nodded, too confused to pose a discussion.

Marco woke up early the next morning, surprising even himself, considering his first class wasn't until eleven. He groaned, annoyed that he'd wasted perfectly good sleep time, but then he remembered. Dylan was going to call!

He got up, dressed, (smelled food in the kitchen and wasted ten good minutes giving last night's breakfast-dinner to the toiled) and began to work on his paper in the kitchen, deciding he might as well do something important while he waited for the phone call.

Apparently, he'd spent more time in the bathroom than he thought because his computer clock said it was already after nine. He closed his eyes, shutting the laptop, and planning on going back to bed. Even if his jackass boyfriend decided to call now, he decided he was not going to answer. He'd made a promise to him, and then blew him off once again. Wonderful.

Marco heard the front door open while he shut down his laptop, but he didn't even bother to look up. He couldn't care less who was coming in anymore. Evidently, his house belonged to the whole damn city.

He picked up his computer, and was met with the face of a boy he tried to stay extremely angry with.

"I'm sorry," said Dylan immediately. "Paige decided to come to the airport late, so I didn't exactly make my deadline."

Marco threw his arms around him ecstatically. Paige walked in a second later, rolling her eyes, and traveling up the stairs, muttering, "Too early for a flight to come in…"

"So…. surprised?

Author's Note: I mainly just wanted to bring it back into the world. Sorry if it wasn't amazing :( Please review. I want to know what you think.


	5. Dylan's home with chocolate

Author's Note: Well, here it is.

Marco believed that things always happened for a reason. He wasn't entirely sure what the reason for this miracle, but also curse, had come to be. How and why had he ended up being the carrier of a baby? Was it to punish him or to bless him? To teach him a lesson? Marco wondered if he'd done anything to deserve it, and if he'd make it through. He wasn't sure if he was exactly happy about the situation, but he knew that if the pregnancy didn't work out, he'd be unhappy.

Marco lay back against Dylan on the couch, trying to concentrate on the paper that was on the computer in front of him he _still _had yet to finish. This wasn't like him. Everything was always done right on time, and he knew he'd regret it later on.

But he'd regret not spending time with Dylan more. He hadn't told Marco how long he was staying, but Marco assumed he was going to be home for just a short while. Dylan absentmindedly ran his hand across Marco's stomach, making Marco, for the tenth time, lose concentration.

"Dylan, I'm trying to work here," he whined, still snuggling further into his boyfriend.

Dylan laughed, letting his hand rest there. "Sorry," he whispered. "When are you going to be done with that?" he asked.

Marco sighed. Dylan didn't seem to understand that no matter what words he was saying at the time, they were still distracting and unneeded. "Well, faster if you stop talking." He rolled his eyes, but pulled Marco more tightly against him.

"Is it interesting?" he asked.

Marco shut his eyes, knowing Dylan couldn't really be that stupid. "Dylan, do you have a listening problem?"

Ellie, catching only that part of the conversation, laughed. "He's not very patient lately, Dylan," she said, amused.

"Thanks for warning me, Ellie," said Dylan sarcastically. "I really appreciate that."

Ellie carefully observed the scene in front of her, taking her book to the chair with her. If there was anyone that such a miraculous thing could happen to, Ellie actually wasn't surprised it was Marco. She hoped with all of her heart that Dylan would be around for Marco and the baby, and that the situation would work out. She had never considered the fact that _if _the pregnancy was successful, there would be a babe living in the house she lived in. Ellie liked babies.

Though, she didn't like babies crying, babies screaming, babies wanting to be picked up, babies using the diaper as their own private bathroom, changing them, feeding them…the only thing she actually liked, she admitted, was that they could sometimes be cute.

They were in serious trouble, and she didn't think Marco and Dylan were really paying any attention to that. Did they realize that, with hockey and college, they were also going to be parents? To a baby, no less? A crying, screaming, spitting-up, un-potty trained baby? As she watched Dylan hold Marco against him, watching, irritated as Marco typed up a paper, she knew they didn't realize it. Soon, there'd be a lot more to do than just that paper.

She knew how Dylan's patience was usually not at its height, so she was waiting (actually anxiously) for Dylan to experience all of the mood swings, strange food cravings, and emotional burnouts. She'd be surprised if Dylan could handle it all in the manner that Ellie and Paige had learned to.

"You'd better let him finish his paper, Dylan," said Ellie.

"Forget it, El," said Marco, pulling Dylan's hand off of him. He leaned over to put his laptop down on the floor. "I'm not going to finish with this overgrown child here."

Dylan smiled. "You have time later," said Dylan, the voice of reason, of course. He wrapped his arms around Marco's middle, leaning his chin on the younger boy's shoulder.

"So, you boys thinking about what you're going to do?" asked Ellie, sitting cross-legged. "The baby, I mean."

Dylan tightened his hold on Marco. "Why'd you bring it up, Ellie?" he asked, exasperated.

"Well, we do have to talk about it, you know," said Marco, turning around. "It's not going to go away!"

Dylan nodded, looking into his boyfriend's eyes. It had been neglected long enough, he supposed. "All right, but I warn you, I'm not looking forward."

Marco looked confused. "You're not?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Dylan assured him hurriedly.

"So, you _don't _want to have this baby?" asked Marco, hurt.

"Oh my god…" he mumbled, rubbing his temples. "That's not what I _meant_."

"Well," said Marco, getting off the couch, "then you don't have to help me with this, Dylan."

Dylan watched as Marco stormed upstairs to his bedroom. He winced as he heard the bedroom door slam.

"Sensitive…" said Dylan.

"Get used to it," said Ellie, rolling her eyes. "Just remember, he can't really control it. It makes it easier not to scream at him."

Dylan laughed. "I'd better go talk to him," he said, stretching his arms above his head. "Wish me luck."

"If you need help, scream," said Ellie, smiling into her book.

Dylan walked up the stairs, the first time he'd been up the stairs in a few months. He started feeling that he really had abandoned his boyfriend. Dylan knew he would feel this way when he came home, and he now wanted to stay instead of go back to Switzerland.

Dylan cautiously knocked on the door, and jingled the knob, realizing it wasn't locked. "Marco," he said, leaning against the opened door.

Marco looked up from the bed tearfully. "I'm kind of excited for this, Dylan," he said. "I want you to be happy about it."

Dylan walked over to where Marco was sitting, taking his hand in his own. "I'm going to try to be patient with your pregnancy, but you're going to have to understand that I don't know anything," he said, squeezing his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too," said Marco.

"No more tears?" asked Dylan hopefully, putting his hand on Marco's shoulder.

"Don't count on that."

Dylan moved so that the two of them could lie down comfortably. He reached out his arms to pull Marco closer to his body. "So, what are we going to do?" he asked quietly.

"I'm keeping it," said Marco, taking Dylan's hands off his back to entwine his fingers with Dylan's. "I want to have the baby."

"I want to be here for you," said Dylan, arriving at the confusing part of the conversation.

"You can come home when it gets closer to the due date…" said Marco, just throwing the idea out there.

"I want to be here for you _now, _Marco," said Dylan, moving closer to him, "when you need me."

"So, you could leave me with no problem before, but when there's a baby involved…"

"Please," said Dylan, feeling himself become frustrated, "don't accuse me of things like that, okay?"

"Fine," said Marco, "let's not fight."

Marco let go of Dylan's hand, pushing his head into his pillow to block the pain behind his eyes. "It's scary for me, Dylan," he said softly.

Dylan moved his hand to rest again on Dylan's back. "I know, honey," he said soothingly, understanding that this was going to be a bigger deal than they really knew at the present time.

Marco remembered his thoughts from earlier in the day. He pulled his face out of the pillow, and sit up, urging Dylan to do the same.

"Do you think this is good?" he asked. "I mean, do you think this happened for a reason? It's never really been known to happen before, right?"

Dylan laughed, despite his nerves. "We definitely have to be positive about it," he said, smiling.

"But really," said Marco, feeling his fear wash away for the moment, his face absolutely glowing, "I'm going to have a baby!"

Dylan's smile increased as he ran his fingers through Marco's hair. "I know," he said. He was nervous, but he was glad to see that Marco was becoming blissful with the idea. If Marco was okay, he could certainly be all right.

"I mean, this is something I thought could never happen," Marco continued excitedly. "I'm going to be a dad!"

Dylan rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Yes, you are."

It was the first time in a while that Dylan had seen his boyfriend so excited about something, something that would change his life forever. Dylan had hockey in Switzerland to make him happy, but Marco really had nothing. Maybe it was, as Marco said, something that was supposed to happen for them.

"I think I'm going to stay," said Dylan, hoping he wouldn't regret it. "I mean, I can't go back now."

Marco's eyes widened. "No, you can't," he said hurriedly. "After everything we went through for you to end up going, you can't come back now, Dylan!"

"But this baby is more important than a damn game of hockey," said Dylan wisely.

"Don't give it up," said Marco, biting his lip. He didn't want to be responsible for Dylan losing his entire life's dream. "I love you too much to let you do that."

Dylan shook his head. "I love _you _too much to leave you alone and pregnant," he said, taking Marco's hand again. "I told you once, and I'll tell you again, you mean _everything _to me. Everything means you come before a game."

"But I'll always be here, Dylan," said Marco, wondering why he was saying what he was saying. Dylan was offering to stay, and he had waited for so long for him to come back for good. Now he was denying that? "They want you now."

"I don't care," he said honestly. Marco could tell he was being completely serious. He was going to give it all up. "Marco, I'm going to stay here with you. Don't tell me not to."

Marco sighed. What could he say? He wrapped his arms around Dylan's neck, hugging him tightly. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much."

Dylan let himself be squeezed to death, hugging back just as tightly. "I love you too," he said, kissing the top of Marco's head when he pulled away.

Marco's face fell suddenly. "Dylan!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Dylan asked, confused. "What's wrong?"

Marco hit him on the head. "Hello! What the hell am I going to tell my parents?!"

Dylan rubbed the spot where he'd been hit. "Ow," he muttered. "I really hadn't thought about that part."

"Neither had I," said Marco, getting off the bed. "I have to change, get to school, somehow tell me parents…"

Dylan knew it was his job to comfort the distressed Marco. He laid his hand on Marco's shoulder while Marco kept his head in his hands. "Don't know what to do," he murmured into his hands.

"Not happy anymore?" Dylan asked, pouting.

Marco shook his head. "No, not happy anymore. Why does everything that makes me happy cause problems?"

Dylan didn't answer his question, just simply went to rub Marco's shoulders, hoping to make him feel better. "Do you want chocolate?" he asked.

Marco's head shot up out of his hands. "You got some?" he asked. Dylan supposed that had been the right thing to say.

"Mhmm," said Dylan, "I have it downstairs; thought you might want some."

"It's Swiss?" he asked, frowning.

Dylan proceeded to rub Marco's tense shoulders. "Yeah, why?"

"I have an opposition to any food coming from Switzerland right now…" he admitted, laughing.

"Well, okay," said Dylan, laughing with him, mostly at the lack of sanity Marco seemed to have. "I will go get it, bring it up here, and when you see how good it is, you can have it all."

"Thank you," said Marco, knowing he was going to end up eating it. Truthfully, he'd most of likely end up eating Swiss cheese again as well. Dylan was home for good.

Author's Note: Okay, so I'm done…as of this moment, but it's Wednesday…posting tomorrow…Thursday lol when I'm home from Pennsylvania. Today is Independence Day! Yay for celebrating the country I hate to live in at the moment! Anyway, please review. Also, I'm sorry if it's not the best chapter. I really didn't have any time to look it over. I tried…so don't shoot?


	6. Patience

Author's Note: You know what's really annoying? Your family taking matters that are pretty important to you, and turning them into a joke. Thanks :) Sorry, just venting here.

As soon as Marco had the baby, Dylan was going back. Marco didn't care if that was acceptable or not, but that's the way it was going to be. Dylan didn't exactly know this yet…but that didn't matter either. Marco was not going to be resented by Dylan for the rest of his life for holding him back.

Since Marco's mind was made up that Dylan was going to be leaving in a few months, he decided to take advantage of his boyfriend being there while he still could.

"My feet," said Marco, lying down on the couch, stretching his legs onto his boyfriend's lap, "are killing me." He pouted as cutely as he could possibly manage.

Dylan was quickly getting used to his constant aches. After being home for a week, he found he really had nothing more to do with himself than help Marco. Another reason why Marco knew he had to go back…he was lost without hockey.

Dylan absentmindedly rubbed Marco's feet while frequently glancing at the television. He sighed.

"Bored, honey?" Marco asked.

Dylan nodded, looking down at his hands. "It's fine." He smiled. "It's better than being in pain," he admitted.

Marco had to agree with that, but he reached out his hand to the other side of the couch for one of Dylan's. "If and when the baby is born, you'll go back, baby…they need you."

Dylan smiled sadly. "Not if—when. You will have this baby," he said surely. "As for me going back…well, we'll see."

At least, he didn't turn the offer down. "I hate going to school," said Marco, bringing up what Dylan thought was an odd topic, especially on a Saturday. "I mean, I feel like everyone is watching me get fat," he spat, irritated.

Dylan tried not to laugh, but he knew a smile slipped onto his face.

"You think it's funny?" Marco asked angrily. "It is _not _funny, Dylan!"

"Okay, okay," said Dylan, holding his hands up in the air. "It's not funny."

Marco glared. "Like you mean that," he said, taking his feet out of Dylan's lap to pull his knees up to his chest.

Dylan sighed. "I do," he assured him, moving over to his side of the couch, placing his hand on Marco's shoulder.

"You haven't yet told me I'm not getting fat," said Marco, sulking.

"Was just about to," said Dylan, taking his hand off Marco's shoulder. "You're not getting fat."

"Well, if I'm not, I will!" he said, groaning as he put his head in between his knees.

"I love you," said Dylan, hoping he might make him feel better. He took one of Marco's hands, kissing it gently. "I love you," he repeated.

"I know," Marco mumbled, raising his head. "You _really _love me?"

Dylan raised his eyebrow, confused. "Why…?" he asked, knowing his boyfriend was up to something.

"Okay, remember that little ice-cream shop down the block that I'm completely in love with?" he said eagerly.

"Yes…" said Dylan, not matching the excited tone that his boyfriend had. He was definitely not in the mood to get up and go there. "It's not exactly down the block…"

"Well, I'm just dying for some of their ice-cream right now," he said, more than hinting.

"_Are_ you?" asked Dylan, running his hand through his hair.

Marco nodded, smiling dreamily at the thought. "If you got me some, I would completely forgive you for calling me fat before."

Dylan turned quickly to look back at him. "I never—"

"Thank you so much, Dylan!" exclaimed Marco, hugging him tightly.

Dylan sighed. Marco knew he was going to get what he wanted with that smile. "Yeah, yeah, flavor?"

"Something chocolate? A loooot of it," he giggled happily. "I love you!"

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh," he said, smiling despite his annoyance.

"Listen, Marco," said Dylan, holding up his index finger as he got up from the house, "I am taking my cell phone. If you change your mind, don't wait until I get home. Okay?"

Marco laughed. "Dylan, I want chocolate. You think I don't know what I want?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. "I—"

"Kidding, of course," Dylan interrupted. "Just…call if you _happen _to realize you want something better. That's all."

Dylan grabbed his sneakers from off the floor, tying them up while he also took his jacket from off the coat rack. "You do want chocolate, yes?"

"_Yes," _said Marco, shaking his head. "Am I speaking Italian?"

Dylan left, closing the door loudly behind him, only hoping that Marco would remember this very conversation when he decided he wanted something else.

"Hey, Marco," said Ellie, conveniently walking into the living room a moment or two after Dylan left. "Where's lover boy?"

She plopped down next to him on the couch, flipping the television off, enabling her to read again. "He went to get me ice-cream," he said, laying down the other way so as not to end up hanging over her shoulder.

"That was nice of him," she commented, opening her book.

Marco nodded, getting off the couch. He went upstairs to his bedroom, finding the box of chocolate Dylan had bought him, satisfying his craving for the moment. Did he say **chocolate** ice-cream to Dylan? He was slowly losing his interest in that flavor.

On Marco's way out of his bedroom, he ran into Paige in the hallway, smiling brightly as ever. "Hey, hon," she said, walking past him to go downstairs.

"Hey, Paige," he said, following her back down to where he'd come from. "I have to stop going up there. My feet are going to fall off," he complained, sitting down at the stool for the counter.

"Aww, poor Marco," said Paige sympathetically, walking around the kitchen. "Your headache gone?" she asked.

Paige and Marco, conversation forgotten, both turned to stare at Ellie as she picked up the lamp that had crashed down. "I'm so sorry," she said, checking if it had been broken.

"It _was _gone," said Marco, rolling his eyes.

Paige brushed her hand across his arm lightly, just letting him know that, no matter what happened, she was going to be there…through everything he was going to have to deal with.

"I'm back," called Dylan. Ellie pointed in the direction of the kitchen, telling him that's where Marco was.

"So…here," said Dylan, giving him his chocolate ice-cream.

"I've never met a better looking guy in my life," said Marco, shrugging.

"You don't want chocolate anymore," said Dylan. "Do you?"

Marco bit his lip, shaking his head meekly. "Okay," said Dylan slowly, "well, that's why I have three other flavors in this bag. Hopefully, one of them is what you want."

Paige could tell Dylan was one step away from snapping. Marco looked disbelieving up at him. "So, you went in there, knowing that I would change my mind?"

"I assumed you would," Dylan replied, taking a seat on the stool next to him.

"I told you I wouldn't," said Marco, looking very displeased. "You just didn't believe me?"

Dylan rubbed his temples wearily. "Marco…"

"I guess I'm just so predictable," said Marco, jumping off the stool. "Don't follow me!"

Dylan waited for Marco to walk up the stairs and slam the bedroom door before getting off the stool himself. "I am supposed to follow him, anyway, right?" he asked Paige, making sure.

"Yeah, he'll be upset if you don't."

Dylan was starting to rethink the amount of tolerance he thought he had. He wasn't sure if he could do this.

"Give him a minute, though," Ellie advised from the other room. "I once went up there when he wasn't ready for me, and I got…what was it, Paige?"

"I believe he threw his ipod at you," said Paige, smirking.

"Right," said Ellie, "so I suggest, if you're going to go in there, wait a moment, and take something to block your head."

Dylan thought she was joking for a moment, but was alarmed to see that she looked entirely serious. "Great," he said, heading toward the stairs. "Wish me luck."

Dylan knocked on the door, cautiously entering the room. "You holding anything lethal? Are you still mad?" he asked.

Marco shook his head. "No, come in."

Dylan sat down next to Marco on the bed, putting his arm around his shoulders. "Dylan," said Marco softly. "Dylan, I just…like I said, it's selfish of me to keep you home."

"Mhmm," said Dylan, letting his hand rest on his forehead. "I have to admit…" he said slowly, pushing Marco down so that they could lay next to each other on the large bed, "that I always wanted a kid…you know, teaching the game to."

Marco rolled his eyes. "Hockey's on your mind, of course."

"It's just…it's a dream I completely forgot about, you know?" said Dylan, looking uncomfortable talking about something so personal.

"I know, but Hockey is a dream you didn't forget about," said Marco reasonably. "You can have both, Dylan. Just be here for me for as long as you can, and then visit whenever you can, and don't abandon me."

"I never would, Marco," said Dylan, smiling affectionately.

"So," said Marco, "what other flavors did you buy me? Anything crazy?"

Dylan bit his lip. "Well, what would be defined as crazy?"

Author's Note: There you have it :) Pleaaaase review.


	7. Lost

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! I still have company, but I managed to write this while they were 'playing killing games'.

Marco rested his head in his hands while skimming through his paper. He had actually finished, even through Dylan's incessant need to 'play' after arriving. Marco had so much else to do that he was simply putting off, using his pregnancy as an excuse.

He sighed. Finishing school was important to him, and he was screwing it all up. Rubbing his eyes tiredly with his free hand, he got up from the counter stool. "I'm just going to print it later," he said to his friends in the living room.

Marco collapsed into Dylan's lap on the couch. "Hey," said Dylan, laying his hands on Marco's shoulders. He'd been trying to leave Marco to himself for as long as he needed to get his work done.

"Stressed?" asked Paige sympathetically. "I went through it too, trust me."

Marco nodded in Dylan's chest, though he didn't think Paige understood how he really felt.

"Don't be; it's bad for the baby," said Alex.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "That should make him feel less stressed," he said sarcastically. "Thanks."

Alex returned the eye roll. "Anytime."

"Speaking of the baby," said Dylan, motioning for Marco to move his head out of his chest, "I think you should see a doctor."

"Yes," the three girls said in agreement.

"I mean, it has been about two and a half months now, Marco," Ellie pointed out. "You've been putting it off long enough."

"Okay," said Marco, giving up his stubborn attitude only because he knew how important it really was.

Marco headed over to the doctor's office after his last class of the day was completed, carrying even more of a workload than he'd had going in. He'd made an appointment, but knew he was still going to have to wait for quite a while in the waiting room, which wasn't exactly pleasant for him. He tried starting some of his schoolwork.

"Marco Del Rossi," said a worn out looking nurse, coming out of a small doorway.

"That's me," he said, taking his books with him into the actual office.

Marco only had to wait a few short minutes in the office. He thanked God for that because he wasn't exactly in a patient mood.

"Hello, what seems to be the problem?" asked the happy-faced doctor when he came in through the door just a bit later.

Marco hated when they asked that. They usually already knew! He'd called in to make an appointment. Did no one tell him why? Was he just trying to torture Marco? Besides, he was the doctor, so he should know better than anyone, yes?

Marco didn't stop to think that he might have been being unfair. "Well, I'm pregnant. Don't diagnose because I know it for a fact."

The doctor looked a little surprised at Marco's snippy attitude, but said nothing about it. "I see," he said simply.

"Well, my boyfriend made me come see what's what, so here I am," he said, hoping the doctor could now just get on with it.

The doctor raised his eyebrow. "So, you haven't yet seen a doctor?" he asked.

"No…I found out about…two and a half months ago," Marco replied, shrugging.

The doctor didn't look especially pleased with his answer. "We're going to need to perform a lot of—"

"Don't make another appointment for whatever tests you want to perform," Marco interrupted. "Can you do anything now?"

The doctor sighed, but smiled slightly, guiltily enjoying Marco's impatience. "I might be able to do some."

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Marco called Dylan while he walked home from the office. He and Dylan didn't exactly live too far away from anything.

"Hey, I'm on my way home," he said.

"Took you a while," said Dylan, not meaning for it to sound edgy.

"Yeah, he wanted to do some tests," said Marco, holding the phone up to his ear with his shoulder while he compulsively rearranged the books in his hands.

"Oh," said Dylan. "Well, is everything good?"

Marco turned onto his street. "Yeah, just fine. I'm almost there." He hung up the phone without an answer from Dylan.

When Marco walked into the house, he found all of his friends at the dining room table eating. He smiled half-heartedly, placing his books down gently on the table, and sat in one of the empty chairs next to Dylan.

"While you were gone, we were talking a lot about this whole baby thing," said Alex. "We actually think it could be…" she paused, looking at Paige, "good," she forced out. Obviously, she wasn't as convinced as the other two girls.

"Yeah, I could help," said Paige. "Since I'm not in school right now, I'd be around a lot."

"Thanks, but could we stop talking about this?" Marco asked as calmly as he could.

"I mean," said Ellie, "it'll still be really hard, but we'll have options is all we're saying."

"I know," said Marco, "but please stop talking about this."

"And we could—"

"Stop!" Marco demanded, interrupting Paige's suggestion. "Just…don't you understand me? I'm going to my room." He got up from the chair, taking his books with him, and walking quickly upstairs.

Dylan looked at the other, confused, and then followed Marco's lead. "Marco," he called, nearing their bedroom. "Marco, what's wrong?" he asked, opening the door.

When Dylan was upset, he usually found Marco lying on his side, staring out the window, and generally refusing to speak. However, this time, he found him pacing the room while talking to himself.

"Marco?" he said again.

"I don't want to be bombarded with questions and the suggestions about the baby, okay!?" he said, still continuing his pacing.

"Sure," said Dylan, wrapping his arms around Marco's waist, moving closer to lay his chin on Marco's shoulder. "Whatever you want."

Marco closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of just being close to his boyfriend. "I've ruined everything for you," said Marco.

"What?" asked Dylan, tightening his hold. "No, you haven't."

"That's not up for argument," said Marco quietly. "And I did it all for nothing."

Dylan was still befuddled. "Marco…"

"Dylan…just say something to make me feel better," said Marco desperately, holding onto Dylan's hands that were around him.

"About what?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Marco tried to sound like it wasn't the biggest deal in the world, telling himself that it may have been better this way, anyway.

"There's a very good chance I lost the baby," he said, keeping his voice as strong as possible.

Dylan didn't say anything. He only held onto Marco tightly, just trying to be there for him, knowing there was not much else he could do.

Author's Note: Like I said, the next couple days are busy, so I tried my hardest to get this one up :) Pleeeeeease review.


	8. Humiliation and Happiness

Author's Note: Here's my chapter for you all :) I won't be back after today (Thursday) until Monday, so try not to miss me too much. Enjoy.

Marco stood in front of his bedroom mirror, running his right hand up and down his stomach gently. If his baby was there, he wanted to get some sort of a sign, a movement, something, which he knew was highly unlikely.

He gave up, deciding to just relax with some television. It might actually take his mind off of the baby. However, as soon as he turned it on, there was a knock at his door.

"Yes?" he said, irritated.

"We're going out to dinner," said Ellie, sounding unusually peppy, most likely trying to improve his mood. If anything, her attitude was making him feel worse. When she got no response, she quickly added, "You are included."

"I don't feel like it," he replied immediately, trying to concentrate on the show that was on. Truthfully, he had no idea what it was.

Ellie groaned. "Come on," she said encouragingly. "You've been in there all day."

Marco was quite aware of that. "Your point is?' he asked.

"In two seconds, I'm sending Dylan in!" she warned. "Just two seconds."

Marco gave up on the sitcom, turning the television off, frustrated. "He doesn't have the power to change my mind," he retorted.

"Paige?"

"No."

"Alex?"

Marco paused before answering. He had to admit he was rather scared of Paige's raven-haired girlfriend. She definitely had the power to do mind-boggling things to him, and she wasn't afraid to do them.

He could just picture the smirk on Ellie's face as she realized she had won. "No," he said nervously.

She laughed almost maniacally. "I'm getting Alex," she said sing-songedly.

Marco slapped his head to his forehead angrily. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." He decided not to have Alex try to force him out, but to instead, give up willingly. He threw the door open, coming face to face with Ellie. She had her arms crossed, and a smirk that was identical to the one he'd pictured.

"Hello, boy," she said, glad to see him out of the room. "Need help getting ready?" she asked.

Marco rolled his eyes, banging his forehead against the doorframe. "No, thank you. Why did you make me come out here if I still have to get ready?"

"I just wanted to make sure you would," she said, nodding curtly. "You have ten minutes."

Marco turned around, closing the door behind him. He didn't _feel _like changing. He didn't _feel _like going out to dinner. He didn't _feel _like talking to anyone, being asked about how he felt, or if he was upset about the possibility of a miscarriage. He didn't _feel _like talking about it! He didn't even want to _think_ about it.

He opened his top drawer, revealing a good amount of shirts. He didn't _feel _like choosing one. He didn't want to do much of anything that day.

"Marco?" said Dylan quietly, knocking. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said indifferently.

Dylan pushed the door open, smiling sadly at Marco as he dressed. "You okay?" he asked.

"Just stop asking me that," he said, buttoning the white shirt he'd thrown on. "I want to ignore it."

"Sitting around in bed all day is helping you ignore it?" Dylan asked, a look of disbelief on his face. "That has to be making your problem worse."

"There's no problem!" Marco exclaimed suddenly, turning around to face him. "I didn't even want a baby, Dylan. Don't you get that? It would have ruined everything, so it's better he or she dies."

Even as Marco said them, he knew his words weren't true. The thought had frightened him, yes, but it had also given him something to look forward to, a challenge, an excitement. Somewhere along the line, he had started to want that baby. Every single one of his friends had something to look forward to. He had nothing…anymore.

"You don't mean that," said Dylan surely, leaning out to take Marco's hand in his. He rubbed his thumb across the flat part of Marco's hand. "You wanted this baby."

Had it been that obvious? Dylan could easily see through him. "I know," he admitted, swallowing painfully. He nodded along with his words. "I don't know _why, _but I somehow thought it would be good."

Dylan let go of his hand to wrap his arms around Marco lovingly. "I understand," he said comfortingly. "It'll be okay. Hey, who knows," he said, shrugging, "the baby could be okay."

"He won't be," said Marco, crying into his shoulder. "…or she."

Dylan pulled away, wiping at Marco's eyes. "Come on, now. Don't be so negative. We have a dinner to go to, eh?"

"Unfortunately."

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"Alex, you scared the poor waiter half to death," said Ellie good-naturedly as they sat down at their table. "You can't make threats like that."

"Hey," she said, offended. "I was hungry. Anything goes when you're hungry."

"Sure, hon," said Paige, rolling her eyes. She leaned her head onto her girlfriend's shoulder while looking into her menu.

"Remind me again why we're out," said Marco, reading his own menu.

"Because," said Ellie, taking a sip of her water, "you didn't want to cook, and so we were going to starve. At least, Alex was."

"I feel appreciated. You only need me for food," he pouted teasingly.

Dylan threw his arm protectively around him. "So far from the truth, honey. What do you want to get?" he asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Some sort of vanilla cake?"

Paige gasped in mock horror. "Marco…skipping dinner?" she said, throwing her hand over her mouth. "It can't be!"

"But it is!" said Alex, looking equally as shocked.

Marco rolled his eyes, getting completely tired of having to use that gesture. "Stop," he said, though he had to chuckle at their faces. "I want to eat it. Anyone have a problem with my choice?"

Despite their shock, Alex and Paige just shook their heads, saying they had no problem with it. Marco smiled, pleased.

"So, are you okay?" asked Paige.

Marco froze, turning to his boyfriend angrily. "I can't believe you told her."

Dylan bit his lip, preparing himself to run after Marco if he got up to run out. "Listen, Marco, she had to know. What if—"

"No!" Marco yelled, simply taking no notice of the other people in the restaurant. "No, I would have told her if…"

Marco paused mid-sentence, and rose from the table. He pulled his jacket off the chair, throwing it sloppily over him, not bothering to use the zipper. His friends looked up from the table at him, clearly concerned.

"You had no right to tell her!"

"Marco, baby, listen…" he said softly, glaring at those who were staring. He watched as a waiter made his way over, probably to tell him to stop making the scene. "Listen, I'm sorry."

"This is important to me. Why would you tell her?" he asked, pain stricken.

"I'm sorry," said Dylan, walking with him to the door.

"Don't bother, okay?" said Marco, finally making his way outside. "It's freaking freezing out here."

"Come on," said Dylan, putting his arm around Marco. "Please listen to me."

"No," said Marco stubbornly, refusing to look him in the eyes. "So, what, exactly, did you say to them? 'Hey, everyone feel bad for Marco. He's going to lose his baby.'?"

"You know that's not true," said Dylan, trying to persuade Marco to look at him, and not call a taxi. "I made a mistake by telling them, yes."

"Dylan, you humiliated me," he said, finally turning to look at him. "A lot."

"Humiliated? You're embarrassed about this?" he asked, confused. "Why?"

"Because I couldn't handle it. I can't do anything!" said Marco, taking a seat on the curb. "I can't do _anything, _and my body decided it can't even handle this one miracle I was so happy about. Then, I'm upset enough as it is…and you just go telling everyone!"

Dylan crouched down to Marco's level, looking down at the ground. "I guess I wasn't thinking, Marco. However, you should never think that you can't do anything."

"I don't want to hear anything about how good in school I am, got it?" said Marco, clearly sick of that.

Dylan cursed under his breath. He had been planning on it. "There are lots of other things you can do."

"Yeah, like what?" asked Marco, rolling his eyes.

"Well, for one thing, you make me the happiest man alive, which, no one has ever accomplished before," he replied with a smile.

Marco, despite his anger, smiled a little as well. "Mhmm," he said, nodding.

"Now, I did plan on doing this at a different time, but now is as good a time as any, I suppose," said Dylan, telling Marco to stand up. "I don't want us to get killed," he added, seeing Marco's look of confusion.

Dylan got down on one knee, even though it hurt to do so on the pavement. "I know you hate me right now, but for all the days you don't…will you marry me?"

He held in his hand a box, which obviously held a ring, and smiled hopefully up at him. Marco heard a sharp intake of breath, and turned to his side to see an elderly woman looking extremely entertained, as though they were in a movie. She was waiting for Marco's answer with baited breath.

"If I say 'no', I think she, over there, will just die," he said, amused. Dylan now looked nervous, as did the woman. "Of course I'll marry you!" he exclaimed.

Dylan stood up, wrapping his arms around the younger boy. "I love you so much!" said Dylan, letting go of him to slip the ring onto his finger. Marco stared down at blissfully.

"Have a nice life," said the woman with a smile, walking away.

Author's Note: Okay, here's the deal: you HAVE to review. I'm going to have a crazy weekend, and if you review, it'll make me so much happier. Pretty please? Thanks :)


End file.
